Keeping Disney+ In the Vault

Disney has always been one of the biggest names in entertainment. Its new streaming service, Disney+, rocked the world with its release in November when over 10 million people subscribed within the first 24 hours. With countless other streaming services available, Disney has some hefty competition, and compared to Netflix, Disney+ should have stayed in the vault.

While Disney+ brings back some favorite classics, it doesn’t provide consumers with much else. Most of their current subscribers are adults and teens who have nostalgia for programs they grew up with, and even with that going for them Disney+ has less than a fifth of the subscribers that Netflix has.

Though Disney+ carries the big names of Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, there is little diversity otherwise. Most Disney films and TV shows are made for kids, and they share similar stories and themes. After watching a few episodes of any show, it starts to lose its appeal.

On the other hand, Netflix has an incredible content variety. They have everything from documentaries to soap operas, while also providing kid-friendly films for families. In the past few years, Netflix has also been releasing its own original programs that are a big hit with customers.

“We thought a long time ago that the unscripted networks are going to want to keep their own content for their own services, so we started our own unscripted programming and have had some really great out-of-the-box hits,” Netflix’s head of content, Ted Sarandos said.

Netflix also releases new programs every few weeks. According to Netflix Media Center, there are 16 new seasons and programs scheduled to be released in the next month. The constantly increased content availability creates a service full of browsing options; one that Disney+ can’t compare to.

That being said, Disney+ does beat Netflix in pricing, especially since they’re partnered with Hulu and ESPN. Now customers can bundle all of their streaming services together for only $12.99—$5 less than what they cost individually.

“Our goal was to basically sign up as many subscribers as possible and get them into the service, giving them a chance to enjoy the product, and we thought that this bundle would be a great step in the direction of achieving that goal,” Disney’s CEO, Robert Iger, said in an interview with CNBC.

Even with this bundle, Disney still falls behind Netflix. While it does tie in a cheaper subscription for sports-gurus, Hulu doesn’t provide the same quality as Netflix. Not to mention that after a couple of years their prices will skyrocket to meet Netflix’s.

No matter what Disney does, Netflix will continue to be the world’s most popular streamer. Unless they partner with Netflix themselves, Disney+ will always be one step behind.